A New Chance at Life - Volume One

My Friend Justin before his "Ordeal..."

Recovery As A Thread...

Anyone that has read my blog will be familiar with my story of recovery from drugs and alcohol. I have written openly about my past struggles and the steps I took that led me to be, if not a "fine upstanding citizen," at least someone that was able to look my mother in the eye on her deathbed and not be embarrassed for the person that I was anymore. Now, I have my Bachelors's degree, I own a home, I am married, and yeah, I guess I am at least, a "responsible adult" now. But let me tell you something, my friend Justin, who I spoke about on Buzz recently when he asked me to tell his story, had a much rougher recovery journey than I did...

Justin during his "Ordeal..."

Birds Of A Feather...

Before I get into too much of Justin's story, I have to recap some of my own. When I finally made the decision to get real with myself and begin the process of getting my life in order, I knew one of the first steps I would have to take would be to seek out drug rehabilitation somehow. Now, at that particular point in my life, I was "squatting" in what we called "Bando's" or abandoned buildings, and the guy I was hanging out to "hustle" with, or panhandle, or whatever we could do to get our "fix" for the day, just so happened to be the subject of our story, Mr. Justin Farmer...

Justin today...

Separate Paths...

One day, after a long day of begging change and shooting Heroin, the same thing my life had degenerated to daily, I had had enough. I looked at Justin as we were walking down the road and said, "Man, I think I am going to the hospital so see about rehab..." Justin answered, "Yeah, you might want to think about that..." to which I responded, "No, I mean right now..." At that point, I walked to Sparrow Hospital and told them I was a "danger to myself and others," which I knew would result in my being placed in a psychiatric hospital, and from there I then got myself into rehab and aftercare, which is what most of my blog is about. Justin, on the other hand, had a separate journey that he was destined to go down.

There Is Always A Plan...

Now that we are up to speed as to where Justin and I parted ways, unfortunately, you will have to wait until the next segment to hear what happened to Justin next. As for me, to make a very long story short, I went to rehab, then a one-year transitional housing program as I went to school, I went on to manage the program after I graduated it, then went on to get married, graduate a university, buy a home, and help me wife start a business. Now, I do several things, and not the least of these will be to help continue to tell Justin's story, because believe me if you think mine is impressive, wait until you hear how he is still here today!